Title

Author

Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Nursing

First Committee Member

Lori Candela

Number of Pages

165

Abstract

We are in the midst of a well documented worldwide shortage of nurses due, in part to a shortage of nursing faculty to educate them. The causes of the faculty shortage are complex including more attractive career opportunities for women, low compensation, and increasing faculty retirements. The shortage is expected to worsen in coming years; Aggressive efforts to recruit faculty at a younger age while retaining older faculty have resulted in four generations in the workforce. As recruiting and retention efforts continue, the concept of organizational commitment across generations is important to consider. Research has demonstrated that organizational commitment leads to improved employee job satisfaction, productivity, longevity, and well-being, while also decreasing absenteeism and turnover; The purpose of this study was to describe organizational commitment and generational differences in nursing faculty. The study provides a first-time examination of generational differences in nursing faculty and how this may impact their organizational commitment in an academic environment. The study also provides new knowledge on generational differences among nursing faculty with regard to other measures of work that may influence organizational commitment; A national survey measuring organizational commitment, work values, job satisfaction, perceived person to organization fit, developmental experiences, perceived organizational support and selected demographics was conducted using a cross-sectional, descriptive design with random, stratified sampling procedures. The 75-item electronic survey was analyzed using descriptive and ANOVA statistics to answer the following questions: (1) Does organizational commitment in nursing faculty differ by generation? (2) Do work values in nursing faculty differ by generation? (3) Does nursing faculty perception of organizational support differ by generation? (4) Does nursing faculty perception of "fit" with an organization differ by generation? (5) Do developmental experiences of nursing faculty differ by generation? (6) Does job satisfaction in nursing faculty differ by generation? (7) Do selected demographics of nursing faculty differ by generation?;Major findings in this study demonstrated that significant differences do exist between the generations of nursing faculty regarding organizational commitment and related measures, with the exception of perceived organizational support. Recommendations for practice are provided along with recommendations for further research.

Keywords

Controlled Subject

Nursing

File Format

pdf

File Size

2959.36 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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